50 influential fictional women in nerd history

Jean Grey

So Jean Grey is a little interesting, to say the least. A telepath who has a love relationship with Wolverine, she ends up being the focus of a lot of issues with the X-Men. Then again, that was later in the movies, and maybe wasn’t a great storyline.

Despite her turn in the X-Men movies, Jean is one of the cooler comic book characters out there. I mean, really, who doesn’t love a telepathic heroine who gets to make out with Logan whenever she feels like it? Jean Grey lives the dream.

Obviously she is one of the teachers at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters because she, herself, was one of the mutants that Charles found. But what makes Jean special is that she’s very complicated. Like Storm and Rogue, Jean has a backstory that is less than stellar, and she struggles with her abilities.

Jean feels like a superhero that we’d see a man portray. Most of the time, male heroes are depicted as these complex beings with emotions and are wrought with turmoil over their actions. But females are meant to just be pretty and do magic. Not Jean though. She’s complicated, she’s important, and she’s one of the best superheroes out there.